The sixth edition of the popular Australian T20 cricket tournament, the Big Bash League, is underway Down Under in full swing. Featuring some of the top current and former international cricketers, such as Brendon McCullum, Kumar Sangakkara, Stuart Broad, Kevin Pietersen and Sunil Narine, the matches have been drawing huge crowds over the festive season in Australia.

The eight teams participating in the T20 league are Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. The Shane Watson-led Sydney Thunder are the defending champions but have had a poor start to their title defence with four losses from four games to languish at the bottom of the table.

At the end of the group stage, Perth Scorchers were at the top of the table even though they were tied with Brisbane Heat and Sydney Stars on 10 points, edging them out on the basis on Net Run Rate (NRR). A similar tie occurred between the two Melbourne franchises, Stars and Renegades, with the former ultimately whisking the remaining semi-final spot away with a slight edge in terms of NRR.

Perth Scorchers made it to their fifth final in six editions of Australia's premier Twenty20 tournament, thumping Melbourne Stars by seven wickets in a game that saw Mitchell Johnson produce a memorable spell that read 4-2-3-3. In the other semi-final, the Sydney Sixers pulled off a thrilling victory in a game that went down to the super over after the two teams were tied on the same score.